(Amaia)

(This Chapter is for my lovely reader @MissyDionne, I promise I will upload a better cover today.)

Am I dreaming?

Am I unconscious?

Or in a state of pure euphoria?

What’s happening?

How is Alnilam kissing me?

His smooth lips glide against mine like waves of a calm sea bringing with them an abundance of E’s:

Ecstasy. Electrifying. Exuberance. Exhilaration.

Innumerable times I have dreamt of this moment. For his body to press against mine, heating me, claiming me, shrouding me, invoking these tingling sensations.

I feel, no, I become alive because of that magic in my veins, fueled by his touch, by his own magic that resides in his hair.

They wriggle around me like snakes, feeling, charging and flushing my very skin.

Alnilam doesn’t touch me with his hands, his left one leaves my neck and slides against my arm, leaving fiery sensations in his wake. He gathers my wrists in front.

My body charges up, and his mouth claims me, my core melts and turns into a puddle, almost leaking between my legs.

Then I sense the coldness in his right hand, something glides against my wrists, as he moves them in front and then clicks.

Abruptly, Alnilam’s mouth leaves mine and he takes a step back, holding my shoulders.

My mind is still hazy and I blink at him while trying to move my wrists and find them bound with some kind of black metallic cuffs.

A guilt flashes on his face, hardening his features. Confusion shuffles in me, and I stare at him while my body jerks, trying to rid myself of those strange cuffs holding my wrists back.

The bond is flooded with his desperation and a wicked emotion, he is desperately trying not to show.

"What did you do?" I ask, frustrated. There is something he is trying to hide from me.

Alnilam gathers my face in his smooth hands. His thumb slowly traces my lower lip. A look of pure agony he offers.

"I am sorry, Amaia. I had to do this so you remain protected."

I scrunch my brows together. "What are you talking about?" I try to shuffle my arms, break them free but they are bound too tightly.

"The Dread Army is here and I have to deal with them. And I can’t have you following me," he says with such seriousness and agony that my heart trembles.

"Why are they here? Do they know? Alnilam you need to hand me over if they are here for me. I don’t want anyone’s life in danger," I speak in frustration. The agitation rumbles in my heart, making my body and head shake.

I want to cry in desperation.

Alnilam’s hands travel to my back and he pulls me into his body for a tight hug. My whole being feels his muscled body, and the warmth exudes from him, trying to calm my raw nerves.

"Never, I made you a promise and I intend to keep it." With that, he places a long kiss on the tip of my forehead and steps back.

Agitation and rage mingle and I explode.

"Don’t you dare bind and leave me like that. Remove these," I shout, now understanding they are probably magic-inhibiting cuffs.

I can use a limited amount of my powers even with the necklace around my neck. That’s exactly why he has done it so suddenly and cunningly. The kiss we shared was fake, he only needed to bind me against my will, knowing I wouldn’t agree.

"I can and I just did. That’s the only way to keep you safe. No one else would do it, so I had to."

Of course! Alnilam will always act as the villain so others won’t have to. He reaches around his head and plucks a streak of his hair, bending it he creates a crescent-shaped bracelet and lets it flow towards me like mercury.

It binds around my wrist, resting together with the black rose as if complementing it. The crescent shimmers and delicately rests against my skin.

"That’s my gift to you, in case I don’t return." He presses the button to open the partition.

His last words fell like an executioner’s blade on my heart, slicing it in half. The water stings the back of my eyes, burning them.

Don’t return?

"What’s that supposed to mean?" I madly question but Alnilam has already turned away. I rush forward, like a mad woman, trying to stop him even with my hands tied behind.

Alnitak catches me, his strong arms wrap around my waist and he pulls me into himself, letting his brother leave.

"No, no, no," I shriek, tears flow like rivers from my eyes, and desperation clings to every inch of me.

"Shhhhh!" He painfully whispers into my ear, pulling me inside the hidden space while the door of Alnilam’s office closes behind his receding figure. He doesn’t turn and doesn’t glance at me for one last time.

"Stop him, Alnitak. Let me go," I try kicking him, fighting with everything I have, a madness seems to have consumed me.

The bond between Alnilam and me is thrumming with so much pain that my chest burns.

"Amaia, calm down." Mintaka enters and holds my face, pressing his thumbs over my cheeks, wiping away the leaking tears.

"Stop your brother. Don’t let him go alone," I plead, my words choke me, breathing is laborious, the mate bond is suffocating me.

"He is not alone. Other hunters are with him. Jamina and Saiph too," Mintaka explains in a pained voice and that somehow makes it worse.

Is Saiph also going? And Jamina too? I know they are skilled warriors but this is the Dread Army we are talking about. They kill first and ask questions later. This is my fight, this is my mess, I can’t let others suffer because of that.

I shake my head, my body trembles at the thought of them getting hurt. The more the twins try to pacify me the more agitated I become.

Alnitak’s lips rest in my hair, kissing slowly, their combined scents shroud me, trying to lull me to sleep using their Incubus forms but I shout.

"Saiph, where is he? I want to see him." I say to Mintaka, who is still holding my face in his hands like something precious.

As if to answer my plea, the door opens and Saiph enters with his scythe strapped to his back and all battle-ready.

His cold eyes instantly mellowed seeing me struggle with the twins.

"Let me have a word," he tells them with a nod of his head and they let me go, stepping back and receding to the office.

Saiph walks inside and closes the partition, secluding us.